ACTION
There is a clear imperative to use evidence when making decisions that will affect babies, children, and their families. Whether we work in national policy, local systems, or frontline services, drawing on evidence gives us as much confidence as possible that we are doing “the right thing”. Resources, energy and time are all finite, so we also need to be confident that we are using them strategically – in ways that are likely to improve young children’s experiences and outcomes, and avoid harm.
However, the meaning of “evidence-based” has narrowed in recent years, and often now refers to programmes and policies which have been shown to work through specific types of evaluation, such as randomised controlled trials (RCT). In fact, evidence-based means more than that. For many years, the literature on evidence-based practice in health, for example, has described professionals using research, alongside their own expertise, to consider the best course of treatment, in consultation with patients.
Being evidence-based or evidence-informed in early childhood is not just about implementing “what works”. It is also about drawing on a range of evidence, including research about early childhood development, professional expertise and insights from communities; to find the best solutions.
When organisations like universities want to support evidence-informed decisions, they should also do more than just tell decision makers “what works”. Rather, they should be equipping them with a good understanding of the research and supporting them to use it in thoughtful ways in the context of their own knowledge and expertise, and the needs of the communities they are working with and for.
It was with this challenge in mind that, during 2024, the Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL) at the University of Cambridge set up a six-month pilot programme called Mobilise. This was aimed at supporting civil servants and local leaders to learn about early childhood, and to better access, understand and use evidence to achieve impactful, evidence-based change.
We designed the programme based on a review of literature about learning and development, knowledge mobilisation and policy engagement, and learning from promising models of application from around the world. It blended aspects of training, networking, action learning and consulting support. This was a complete approach to building understanding, capacity, motivation and opportunity to make and deliver evidence-informed policy for children.
The programme was co-produced so that participants shaped the content of the course, based on what they needed to drive change in their work settings. There was also a strong focus on building relationships both across the cohort, and with the PEDAL team. It was child-focused: we started by studying child development, and from that began to think about specific services and policies. There were also meaningful opportunities to observe, engage with and learn from children, like an afternoon at local nurseries.
For the pilot, we worked with 15 carefully selected participants. Most were civil servants from the four nations of the UK, but there were also local leaders from local government, public and voluntary sector services.
We held three immersive residential events in Cambridge, involving presentations from academics, small group discussions with a variety of expert professionals, and visits to local services. Importantly, there were plenty of structured and unstructured activities where participants could reflect, process, talk and think.
The cohort also had monthly action learning sets and received a weekly email containing a link to a podcast and range of accessible resources. The programme not only covered early childhood development, but also strategies for effective policy delivery, and how to actually make the case for change.
We also deliberately spread the programme over six months, to allow professional relationships to develop and so participants had time to absorb and build on their learning.
Mobilise was then evaluated using qualitative and quantitative feedback from the participants, their colleagues and line managers, with positive results.
IMPACT
This evaluation suggested that Mobilise had improved participants’ capability to make and implement effective, evidence-based policy in several ways. It improved their knowledge and understanding of both the science of early childhood development, and how to implement evidence-informed policy. It increased their confidence to advocate for early childhood and to use evidence in decision making. It also improved their communication skills.
Participants told us they were not just using what they learned in Mobilise but seeking and using evidence from a wider range of sources as a result of the programme. It also resulted in more joint working across government departments and facilitated stronger relationships across and between systems.
Mobilise helped civil servants to bring new insights and stronger evidence to discussions and advice for ministers about early childhood policy. For example, one participant reported: “I am using the content around early social and emotional development and mental health needs to underpin work that we are engaged in around the new government’s commitment to improving mental health. It has been important in highlighting the critical role of building the foundations of mental health particularly as there seems to be a bit of a gap around babies.”
There was neither the time nor the means in this evaluation to measure whether the programme had an impact on children: our focus was on how it equipped participants in their work developing and implementing policies.
Our initial funding from the LEGO Foundation enabled us to run the programme for one cohort, but we hope to have at least provided a template for future initiatives. Moreover, this project generated transferable lessons about how to support evidence-based policy. It shows the benefit of interactive, relational and responsive approaches to policy engagement. And it underlines why supporting evidence-informed decision making is not just telling people “what works” but also about working alongside decision makers to mobilise a range of evidence to find solutions that best meet the needs of our children and communities.
Sally Hogg is former senior policy fellow, Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL), and is now assistant director, programmes and impact at The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood
